How a Great Deal on an BMW E60 Can Go Badly Really Quickly
As it turns out, some deals are too good to be true. Watch how it all falls apart with this BMW E60.
Sometimes it might be tempting to buy a non-running car to see if it can be fixed up in an inexpensive way. After all, what better way to get the most amount of car for your money? That’s what Nathan’s DIY Garage did in this video, buying a BMW E60 with the intent on fixing it up and selling it.
This car was bought with no keys, so it wasn’t possible to turn the engine over at first to get an assessment if it was beyond repair or not. Still, a quick visual inspection had shown that it was ok, and it should be repairable. In the video you hear an assessment: “I can see that the camshaft is twisted.” Unfortunately that may mean a new camshaft, but more parts of the motor have to be taken apart now to assess full damage before attempting to start it.
Sadly, as more things are removed, more damage is found. “A lot of stuff is happening here. Every one of the cam journals is sheared.” Damage to the valve cover was directly caused by that, but more worrying was the root cause of the damage to the camshaft.
Sadly upon more removal of parts, things start to look terminal. “There is #6 spark plug right there. You can see something has definitely hit that.” Critical damage to the spark plug suggests that the #6 connecting rod had broken, leading to the rest of the damage in the cylinder head.
That’s one quick way to turn a fixer-upper into a parts car. Even though a replacement engine can be found, it just wouldn’t be financially wise to do so. So take the lesson as it is, and inspect a non-running car very carefully before purchase. Nathan’s Garage wasn’t able to do so as they bought it from Copart without keys. That’s the risk you take.
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